Interview with Jachele Pfeifle, REALTOR®
What are your best qualities as a real estate agent?
I think my best quality as a real estate agent is I stay educated as far as what the market is doing. Whether that's a slowing market, or searching for toilet paper in the toilet paper crash market. We keep our fingers on the pulse of everything that's happening from first-time homes to million-dollar properties, to land, to infrastructures being built. We follow all the current trends. We know if there is a problem that has come up in a certain neighborhood, we educate ourselves on the neighborhoods, so we can really advocate for our clients.
How important is it for a real estate agent to have strong contacts?
It is extremely important. When you're looking at what a REALTOR® does, and our contacts, and our community engagements, you typically as a client, are in a rush of some sort to get something done. Whether to find the perfect home, and we put an offer in and that offer is accepted, to getting it inspected, getting the roof checked, getting the plumbing checked, making sure that that purchase is a sound purchase. We have to have all the client contact for that. When it's selling a property, it's the same thing. We need to make sure that we put your house out there to everybody that we know. It's using our communications, and our client list, and our contact list to really push your property forward in the best, most advantageous way for you. To get it seen by the most people, and sometimes even as we're going out and about in the community we'll see a house that already has the perfect buyer for it. We're able to have a marriage between those two properties or those two entities and have a win-win outcome.
What do your clients love about you most?
I think my clients love the fact that I'm very straightforward. I'm not going to tell you something just because you want to hear it. When it comes to buying a house, it's like anything else. It's an investment, it's a purchase. Whether it's $100,000 or a million dollars, it's still an investment to you. What does that investment look like? What can I do to make that the best purchase or best sale that fits exactly what you want the best? I'll take and listen to what you need and what you don't need, and go from there.
If a potential home buyer is looking for homes for sale, shopping for homes in Colorado Springs, what are some of the potential red flags that they should watch for when looking for a REALTOR®?
I think one of the biggest red flags that people should look for is if the REALTOR® is pushing them into a purchase for themselves or for the REALTOR®. Your sale is not going to make my mortgage, I pay my bills just fine. Some REALTOR®s can't say the same thing, they will push clients into a property just to get it done. You want somebody that's going to listen to what you want, because every person is different. Just because you love your husband, he might be a great guy, it doesn't mean he's a perfect husband for me, and it's the same thing with houses. Just because it's my perfect house, it doesn't mean it's yours. We have different lifestyles, we have different needs, we have different wants, we have different likes. You really want somebody that's going to listen to those and not try to push you into what they want, but to really find, and incorporate, and select by listening to what you want. If you want a fixer upper because you love doing home projects, then let's find you a fixer upper. I'm not going to push you into a new build because that's not what you're wanting. On the same token, maybe your budget doesn't allow you to have a new build, but you have no idea how to fix anything, let alone hang-up a picture. Putting you into a fixer upper, even though that might be in your budget, isn't the best move for you, there's always creative options. Really having somebody that listens to you at your core and is able to advocate for you is the most important. Once they start advocating for their wants on your home, I think that's the biggest red flag.